Freedman's Memorial

The Freedman’s Memorial, also known as the Emancipation Memorial, is a significant monument in Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was erected in 1876 and is the work of sculptor Thomas Ball. The sculpture shows President Abraham Lincoln holding a copy of his Emancipation Proclamation, while a freed African American man, based on Archer Alexander, kneels on one knee and is about to rise. Broken shackles lie at the president’s feet, symbolizing the moment of liberation. The monument was funded entirely by contributions collected from formerly enslaved people, primarily African American Union soldiers. The first donation, in the amount of five dollars, came from Charlotte Scott, a freed woman from Virginia.

The dedication took place on April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Lincoln’s death. The keynote speaker was the civil rights activist Frederick Douglass, who addressed Lincoln’s complex role in the abolition of slavery. Although Douglass praised the monument, in a later letter he criticized the design because the freed man is still shown kneeling. He had hoped for a depiction showing the African American man upright, like a free man. Today the monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands near the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, which it has faced since 1974.

In more recent times, particularly in 2020, the monument became the subject of public debate. Critics charged that it has a paternalistic character and does not adequately acknowledge the active role African Americans played in their own liberation. There were efforts to remove the monument or supplement it in order to offer a broader historical perspective. Despite these controversies, the Freedman’s Memorial remains an important place of remembrance for emancipation and the early struggle for equal rights in the United States.